Greek Pensioners Face Losses of Up to €350 per Month in 2019 Cuts

Greek pensioners are about to lose up to €350 ($416) per month when new pension cuts are implemented as of Jan. 1, 2019.

Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos has admitted that the new year will find Greek pensioners seeing cuts in their payments.

The cutback ceiling may be set at 18 percent, but many of the pensioners, especially older ones, will see reductions in primary and supplementary payments that may be equivalent to one to three pensions per year.

The recalculation has been made and the personal dispute will begin in the coming months after pensioners receive their tax clearance forms, Tsakalotos has announced.

Indicative of the losses that pensioners will see in the coming year, Greek newspaper Ta Nea published the following examples:

A pensioner who receives Social Security pension (IKA) of €1,140 after 28 years of service, will lose about €205, with the new pension standing at €869 per month.

A worker who had IKA insurance for 40 years and a pension of €1,184 will have a decrease of €173 euros and a new pension of €1,010 per month.

A public-sector employee with 35 years of service will see his pension drop from €1,225 to €1,004, which means a loss of €221 per month.

A pensioner from the former TEVE (the freelancers’ insurance fund) with 30 years of insurance will see his pension cut from €985 to €807, meaning losses of €177 per month.

The mother of an underage child with 20 years of service and insured with IKA is now receiving a combined main and supplementary pension of €695; she will see a €100 reduction in her main pension and another €30 in the supplementary pension, thus losing €1,500 in one year, in other words, more than two monthly pensions.